Progress vs Sunsets video installation ( Reformulating the Nature Documentary ) is the second work of Mélanie Bonajo in a trilogy focusing on the effects of technological advances on vulnerable, marginalized groups. While the first installation in the series concentrates on the elderly, Progress vs Sunsets invites children to consider the ways that viral animal photos and videos have redefined the relationships between humans, wildlife, and the environments they share. Bonajo asks which voices are ignored during processes of growth and development, and draws attention to the extinctions and casualties that are the inevitable side effects of innovation.
The movie and different variations of the installation has been shown at :
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Bonnefanten Museum Maastricht, Kunsthalle Lingen, Design Museum Gent, Guangdong Museum of Art Guangzhou, Kunsthal Rotterdam, CBK Zeeland, Frankfurter Kunstverein, (to be continued...)
hand dyed artificial fur, polyurethan foam, carpets, prints.
With Progress vs Sunsets, Bonajo encourages her audience to reconsider the lenses through which they view those different from themselves, and to reflect upon the systems of power that value certain lives over others.
The film is situated within a bright yellow immersive installation environment designed to encourage visceral, affective responses in viewers and promote feelings of comfort and safety. A giant stuffed animal serves as a seat, and invites audiences to reconnect with their childhood mode of experiencing the world.
The artificial furry sculpture looks like an abstract memory of what could be an animal, it has hairs, a tongue, a tail, but no identifiable face or feets, somehow, it's a species we lost track of.
In collaboration with Mélanie Bonajo
Some flags are designed by Carolin Gieszner
2018